Birdie Bowers: Captain Scott’s Marvel

Henry ‘Birdie’ Bowers realized his life’s ambition when he was selected for Scott’s Terra Nova Expedition to the Antarctic, yet he also met his death on the return journey from the South Pole in 1912. Bowers’ boyhood obsession with travel and adventure took him round the world several times and his life appears, in hindsight, to have been a ceaseless preparation for his ultimate challenge - Antarctica. A stocky 5’4”, he was a bundle of energy: knowledgeable, indefatigable, and the ultimate team player. This new biography, drawing on Bowers’ letters and journals, previously unpublished material, and original research, sheds new light on his achievements and tells the full story of the hardy naval officer who could always lift his companions’ spirits.